I have added a new section to this website called MY TEXTS. You can navigate there from the main menu. This is why.

For at least a decade now, like many other academics, I have used Academia.edu as a repository for my writings and a place where others can easily and freely assess them, consistently with terms of copyright. While I have never used the (monetized) “premium” features of the site, I always thought the basic idea of such an open repository an inspired one that I was very happy to support.

I found the site especially useful for posting complete texts of books that were out-of-print to which I had regained the rights, including Marx’s Method, The Violence of Abstraction, and my 1985 book with Philip Corrigan The Great Arch, which has so far had 7,535 views. I also find the site useful for posting drafts, articles published in out-of-the-way places, and occasional unpublished materials.

Reluctant as I am to remove texts from this facility, I am deeply disturbed by and feel duty-bound to resist Academia.edu’s recent unilateral change in terms and conditions. The relevant clause reads:

By creating an Account with Academia.edu, you grant us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable license, permission, and consent for Academia.edu to use your Member Content and your personal information (including, but not limited to, your name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, city, institutional affiliations, citations, mentions, publications, and areas of interest) in any manner, including for the purpose of advertising, selling, or soliciting the use or purchase of Academia.edu’s Services.

I had a disconcerting example of this when the company proudly informed me that it had “made a podcast” from one of my articles without my knowledge, involvement or permission.

Like many others, I am contemplating discontinuing my Academia.edu account or at least drastically cutting the amount of material I leave on the site for its corporate management to plunder “in any manner” as they see fit.

Until I find an alternative repository that provides the services Academia.edu used to offer without asserting effective ownership over member content and personal information, I am making my work freely available—consistently with publishers’ rights—on my personal website at coastsofbohemia.com.

Most of what was formerly available for download at Academia.edu can now be downloaded from My Texts. I will be adding new materials as time goes on.